Creative writing and shared reading

Environmental issues go beyond calculating emissions and rising temperatures. It’s about connecting. Connecting to the natural world, to other people and, just as importantly, to ourselves so that we can find our voice. Creative writing and shared reading together in a group can help us do that. Glasgow’s third sector groups are invited to join a free autumn workshop on the topic.

The stories we live by

We hear a lot about climate action in the media in terms of targets for temperatures and pollutants, but this is often difficult to connect to our everyday lives because it isn’t tied to the ‘stories we live by’.

The stories we live by are the messages we learn from the world around us that influence our actions, the choices we make and how we participate in society – or, at least, how we think we should participate. We constantly hear stories about economic growth, new technology or new trends that push us deeper into capitalism and consumption – which are concepts we have created – and completely remove us from the real, tangible world around us. And it’s easy to ‘go with the flow’ as Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone mentioned in their book ‘Active Hope’, ‘When you’re living in the middle of this story, it’s easy to think of it as just the way things are.’

One of the reasons why climate action can be hard to connect to our everyday lives is because the actions needed to address it are in complete opposition to these stories we live by. To better understand the mechanisms behind the stories we live by, researchers in the discipline of ‘ecolinguistics’ explore the role of language. “The aim is to develop linguistic theories which see humans as part of the ecosystems that life depends on and use them to address key ecological issues, from climate change and biodiversity loss to environmental justice.” 

Creative tools to support your story

Bringing creativity into climate action opens opportunities to connect it to other aspects of life. It can be a calm space to break from the noise, reflect and connect to yourself, others and your surroundings.

Nature and the environment are often seen as something far away from urban landscapes like lush forests, beaches or hills but nature also includes the air we breathe, the food we eat and the clothes we wear. By focusing on the natural world, environmental issues and climate change in a workshop, the exercises can help create connections to these elements and help us build new stories to live by.

'When the environment changes, our stories change too,’ said Rolinda 'Durupan' Gilbaliga from the Panay-Bukidnon Indigenous community in the article Our stories change.  

A closer look at the tools

Both creative writing and (shared) reading are widely used and studied as tools. Here are a few examples that highlight benefits both on a personal level and in relation to others and the surroundings. 

The article Nature writing: exploring the beauty of the natural world through words emphasises the benefits of connecting with nature through reading and writing, “In an age of technology and city living, many people feel increasingly disconnected from nature. Spending time outdoors or even reading about the natural world can reduce stress, spark creativity and inspire mindfulness. Nature writing provides a gateway to these benefits, allowing readers to experience the outdoors vicariously.” 

They also underline the positive potentials on a larger scale, “Nature writing also serves as a critical tool for raising awareness about environmental challenges. By illustrating the beauty and fragility of ecosystems, nature writers encourage readers to act, whether by supporting conservation efforts or making more sustainable lifestyle choices.” 

In the article How writing about places people know makes the climate crisis less abstract a study is mentioned to illustrate that short writing exercises rooted in given places help people to connect to unfamiliar areas. This can have a broader impact in the way we think and speak about climate change, “Participants in our research are invited to write brief descriptions of what they notice, what appears to be changing and how this affects their own thinking. This creates space to test ideas without the defensiveness or polarisation that often accompanies climate debate.” 

The Scottish Book Trust sum up in their article, How creative writing can boost wellbeing, “Creative writing can really make a big difference to your wellbeing, allowing you to process your thoughts and to be free to express yourself as you wish.” 

In The Optimist Daily, the article Pen and paper revival: The many brain-boosting benefits of writing by hand, emphasises not only the cognitive workout that engages fine motor skills and memory when writing in hand, but also the benefits as a tool, “When we write, we engage in an organized type of thinking that aids in collecting knowledge from experiences to direct perceptions, behaviors, ideas, and emotions in the present.”

(…)

“In an increasingly automated world, thinking and writing on paper provide a tactile sensation that helps focus thinking. There are no auto-correct tools, grammatical suggestions, or artificial intelligence guiding your thoughts—just you, a pen, and a piece of paper.”

The Reader is the biggest shared reading charity in the UK. For over twenty years, the organisation has built a community of Shared Reading groups across the UK and around the world. Their core belief about the benefits of literature and shared reading spans wide and deep, “We believe that literature’s unique power has the potential to connect individuals, help us feel better and to rebuild lost social bonds. We believe that Shared Reading is needed now more than ever.” (https://www.thereader.org.uk/shared-reading/) 

Workshop invitation

Glasgow’s third sector groups are invited to a workshop that takes off with pen, paper, a cuppa and a facilitator to guide the participants through small exercises. Feel free to bring your laptop/pad if that is the right tool for you.  

With writing prompts that take us from personal encounters with nature (also urban landscapes have natural elements), to questions about how to sense and understand sustainability, we make space for our experiences and reflections. Together with shared reading, the workshop can support and develop our understanding of what we notice and what we want for the future. Ultimately, we hope the experience will give people the tools to create new "stories we live by" so that our lives and choices feel more connected to the natural world around us.

As much as we want to inspire participants, we also want to provide tools that you can use to engage and inspire the communities you work with and the Glasgow Climate Action Hub will be happy to support any groups who would like to try delivering a similar activity in their own space.

Event time and place 

The workshop will take place on the 14th of October 2026, 10-12pm, at Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector (GCVS), 348 Argyle Street, Glasgow G2 8LX. The session is free, but please sign up here or get in touch if you have questions: gazelle.buchholtz@gcvs.org.uk

“Stories are the secret reservoir of values: change the stories that individuals or nations live by and you change the individuals or nations themselves.” (Ben Okri)